Haha, I actually had a little mint plant, but she didn't survive the winter, poor thing :/
Sounds like you two had a lot of adventures! Really cool! I hope you'll be able to travel again soon. We probably will too. Our house-sitting job is coming to an end eventually.
So you decided to quit teaching? I was a teacher's assistant for a while. Working with children can be very rewarding, but it's so stressful! I was definitely not made for it ^^